The support I received felt impersonal and not as attentive as I had hoped. I appreciated the variety of services offered, but the execution fell short. Communication was often unclear, leading to confusion about my care plan. 😕 I believe there's potential for improvement.
I saw Dr. Jamal Fawaz from 2018-2021. During my time, I was only prescribed about.. maybe a half dozen different medications. Some didn t work, others I couldn t afford. My diagnoses are Bipolar 2, PTSD, and OCD. At the time of my departure, I was on Effexor XR and Buspar. When asking for something to help with my hypomania, for example Lamictal, he proceeded to ask me if I partook in the usage of recreational drugs or substances. I mentioned that I occasionally smoke marijuana, but it wasn t a daily habit that affected my life. Dr. Jamal Fawaz proceeded to compare me to somebody who uses highly addictive substances daily, such as heroin, cocaine, meth, and highly addictive narcotics. He refused to give me any new type of medication after that, saying he wouldn t treat someone who was trying to make themselves psychotic. Overall, wouldn t recommend if you re a marijuana user, medical card or not, as he does not believe in it and called the THC Industry a money machine.
i was admitted into the tween unit for
around 6 days, (i am 12), and the staff there was so lovely, especially the night staff. ms Zoe and mr Brendan were my favorites. I liked mr Shawn too.The food wasn t that bad i mainly got salads tho. My experience there was pretty good we mainly did activities, watched movies and colored. We were allowed to play board games sometimes along with cards and coloring. If we were good we were allowed to go on the playground, also the patients there were lovely, they were all so sweet and kind. I do miss some of the kids from there, unfortunately i couldn t get any info to be able to contact them because the staff didn t allow it. They said you re here to focus on yourself not make friends which is understandable. I m doing better now than i was before i got sent there, the coping mechanisms bingo activity we did helped a lot :)
I just wanted an appointment to speak with someone about cognitive behavior therapy for my anxiety (hellooooo pandemic). They offered telehealth appointments. Great! I sent back the paperwork I needed to e-sign. They kept pulling a "bait and switch" on my appointment time. Despite the fact it's telehealth and I completed all my paperwork, they still scheduled me as if I was coming for a regular intake appointment (half hour prior to an appointment) and didn't bother to explain that. So...I scheduled (for example) an appointment for 7:30 to 8:30. Their automatic appointment confirmation system called me and confirmed for that time. (Keep in mind this happened 3 times before anyone explained) I took off work for a set time. And what do I get in my email? A zoom link from the therapist for 8:00 to 9:00. So I called and they still wouldn't see me for my SCHEDULED appointment time, even tho I had all my paperwork in and it's telehealth.
Keep that in mind if you think you want to schedule with them--evidently time means nothing to them and neither does the fact that their "bait and switch" cost me $50.
Do not recommend.
I was a patient of Dr. Corvin Robinson for seven years or more. As time went on I felt that maybe he was getting overwhelmed with his patients and I could see that he was still working on things from previous patients, while he was speaking with me. He couldn't focus and eventually I received a call that he resigned.
Brook Lane asked that I go back through their intake services to reschedule. The soonest they could schedule me was two months out with Dr. Jamal Fawaz. I told them tele-health would be best because I live further away and Covid-19 is still a concern. They told me no and that he has to meet with me in person. I told them I was coming from College Park and that I would come in. Unfortunately, there was a traffic incident on the way there. I arrived and spoke with the receptionist at 2:08pm. She told me I would have to reschedule. I begged receptionist explaining my situation. They let me speak with Dr. Fawaz' personal assistant and she said she would go ask him. She came back telling me that he refused and that I would have to come back. I let her know that instances like this are, in part, why people seek help.
Already being an existing patient, I was disappointed and have no desire to return. I accept that I was late and I also explained my situation to them way in advance. Even though I had since moved from the area, they had my records and I elected to give them an opportunity to retain my business. I was reluctant as Dr. Fawaz has a two star rating here and not much better on other medical sites. And if he turned me away for eight minutes, then it is obvious he doesn't need my money.
Their staff spent more time arguing with me over what clock they look at and eating copious amounts of food - and it shows. If you don't need my business, being an existing patient, then it is clear that your antiquated facility doesn't need anyone else's.
I debated on posting a review of my experiences with Dr. Fawaz for over 3 years now. I saw Dr. Fawaz for a few months while living in PA. I felt so uncomfortable speaking with him right from the start. Many of my stressors that I wanted to talk about were under minded. I talked with him about having my dog as an emotional support dog and he quickly said you are not disabled enough to have an emotional support dog (word from word) then lectured me on the importance of emotional support dogs for people who need them more. I think the lecture was unnecessary and poor choice of words. Not going into detail but I do want to explain that he wanted to talk about past traumas. Which is normal. I explained them. Then he suggested that they were my fault. I quit seeing him after a few months and started seeing someone new and had to do therapy of my experiences with him. My overall opinion of my experiences with him is he has no bed side manors so to speak and poor choice of words for this particular profession. I m not crying over not sugar coating things. Honesty, is a beautiful thing but in this case he didn t know me at all and made accusations of situations which was completely unprofessional. Seeing someone for mental health can be extremely hard as it is, so to quickly jump to conclusions being in this profession you shut the patient down immediately. The entire reason a person goes to a psychiatrist/therapist is to be heard, understood, and most of all NOT JUDGED!
For the old hag doctor, short hair and glasses. She said if you don t tell me now then you ll never leave yeah that doesn t help at all plus you can t expect me to tell you what s wrong immediately without knowing you or having a short conversation beforehand, then after telling me I won t leave this place if I don t tell you giving up and telling me to leave. You made it way worse for me then you can imagine. I hope your car gets towed and fined and I hope you get paper cuts and accidentally put hand sanitizer on them. The food was pretty good.
(adolescent unit)
a lot of the staff were absolutely amazing, i loved them so much. my doctor was okay, she didnt listen, assumed things, and just was eh. the food is pretty gross but if you get the chicken wing dings, bro they bussin. groups are fun, especially hobby skills and if you tell the man who runs it you re leaving, he will bring you a stress ball at some point that day. we had lots of free time where we usually watched movies, colored (even though staff took coloring supplies from us and told us it was because kids were misusing them when no one was), played cards, etc. you learn A LOT of card game while youre there because they pass the time really well. there were multiple code 5 s (agressive patient) which triggered lots of us but they were all handled well. most of the nurses are absolutely amazing (especially ms celine). patio time is absolutely amazing, its a really nice way to get some vitamin D and they usually play music and take song requests if said song is appropriate. the kids are so so so cool for the most part, when i was there we made a whole nation . the staff are very strict when it comes to cursing and inappropriate topics. all around a 3/5 because doc and food brought it down, but id absolutely go again if i had to.
First things first: please keep in mind that people don't tend to go out of their way to leave positive reviews, only negative ones. I was a bit worried at first when I saw some of the reviews, but I had a great experience personally.
I was in the adolescent unit for around six days before discharge. All the staff was kind from my experience, and even helped me when I was having a panic attack on my first night there.
The other patients were all lovely too, everyone got along with one another and it felt like a family there. I miss many of the friends I made there.
Keep in mind that you're here to get help, you need to be open to the people here or they can't help you. I was a bit nervous but decided to fully disclose my issues, and by my second or third day they put me on medication that helped my anxiety massively.
The food was okay! It was pretty much the same as what you'd get in public school lunches. For lunch and dinner you had a choice of what to eat, which I appreciated tons, since I think I would starve if I wasn't able to have one of my safe foods. They also offered vegetarian options, and were careful about food sensitivities. One thing I noticed is that the food was pretty much always cold, though, but I didn't mind much.
Most days were filled with lots of free time, which patients could use to color, write, play games with other patients, read, do puzzles, etc... I wasn't very happy with their selection of books, though, so I would suggest to bring your own if you're an avid reader like me. It honestly felt like a combination between a daycare and a nursing home. It did get boring at times, but it was always very peaceful.
Some other minor things I have to nag about- many showers were broken, and the toilets sound like gunshots when you flush them, which is an issue especially considering how many other patients are sensitive to loud noises. It was always freezing cold in my room, but I was given an extra blanket which fixed the issue.
Other than that, my experience here was was great, and I would absolutely choose to come back again if I ever felt like I needed to! c:
I am very happy Dr. Danielle Roncone learned her lessons about changing supervisors if its about the student not threatening its original 1-1.
If there was a "Minus Zero" stars Brook Lane would be double minus that..
Yes its that bad and if you feel the assertion is inaccurate please feel free to chime in with a factual counter argument.. Withouth going overboard on details, Brook Lane has some outstanding employees but the system and fundamental premise that the "Hospital" is founded on is flawed. The health care system has deteriorated in the area of mental health considerably and the experience that was there in the past is long gone. Brook Lane has exactly 1 qualified "psychologist" and thats pushing it.. The majority of staff is "social workers" masquerading as health professionals. There is no rhyme to the reason and medications are dispensed and perscribed seemingly at random. Dosages appear to be increased based on the "lets see what happens" approach and health professionals evaluation of patients responses, which are basically limited to physical i.e. looks good and verbal i.e. sounds good.. This approach only goes so far. For the verbally challenged patient there is no hope of progressing without conveying to the "social worker" doing the "box checking" portion of the so called treatment plan.. The goal here seems to be admit patients that can pay $$ and or have insurance to cover a stay in the the "unit" at Brook Lanes Hagerstown Campus. The mental facility model is getting old as well and confining patients to their room and or "unit" which basically is a halllway with ~ bunch of rooms on each side, is a sure way to create an enviroment that is unhealthy for getting youre head on straight or vocalizing whats bothering you. The patients are all lumped together regardless of mental ability or instability.. The zoo as it turns out has patients walking the halls talking to the voices in their head at all hours of the day and night along mingled with abuse victims, voluntary and involuntary admissions and god only knows what else. The patients are let out couple times a day for Therapy, meals and whatever else the staff can come up with to pass time of day. The "activities" which are supposed to build confidence or mood or improve patients well being are rudamentary and ineffective. Coloring and group gossip sessions do not help and neither does putting feelings down on paper.. If the patient knew what caused their situation they would probably fix it.. Getting a diagnosis out of Brook Lane is practically impossbile.. The unit wardens are basically orderlies keeping the patients busy in between activities led by social workers and occasionally a Physiscian Assistant or other psuedo medical professional will stop by and ask probing questions in order to dole out medications.. The evenings and spare time if filled with staring out the window and watching "non-threatening" tv along with endless commercials.. There is a phone to the outside world that is always busy and personal comms are no allowed. The chances of making through this maze of a mental health facility favors the house... If they like you the stay lasts maybe a week or two, if not cooperative its like hotel california.. The bottom line of this long rambling narrative is stay away if possible, get a real MD to diagnose what ailing you and seek medicine as a last resort. The narcotics dispensed at this place basically sends patients into zombie land and thats not a good place to be. Good luck
brooklane.org
